WASHINGTON – In town for a fundraising event with libertarian icons Ron and Rand Paul, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kurt Bills did what many tourists in Washington, DC do and watched a session of the House of Representatives. His trip coincided with a House vote on legislation sponsored by the elder Paul, a Texas Republican congressman and presidential candidate, to audit the Federal Reserve.

Auditing and closing the Federal Reserve has been a pet issue of Ron Paul’s for decades and while on the campaign trail, Bills has also pushed for audits of the Fed. The legislation, likely Paul’s last bill to get a vote before he retires at the end of this year, passed 327-98. All four of Minnesota’s Republican U.S. House members voted in favor of the bill, as did DFLers Collin Peterson and Tim Walz. DFL Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum voted against the measure.

Bills received the Republican Party’s endorsement thanks to the votes of Ron Paul supporters at the party convention in May.

“The Fed controls the supply of money. It owns trillions of dollars of assets, and is now one of the largest holders of U.S. debt. It intervenes in both U.S. and foreign markets, yet we know only what the Chair of the Fed chooses to tell us,” said Bills in a statement released by his campaign.

Bills’ opponent, DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is unlikely to have to vote on the measure. Senate Democrats say they have no plans to bring the bill up in their chamber.